Siege of Gana

The siege of Gana was a twenty-day campaign by a German army led by King Henry the Fowler against a Slavic Glomacze fortification. It took place in early 929 at the fortress of Gana, named after the nearby Jahna river.

In early 929, King Henry launched a campaign along his eastern frontier against numerous Slavic strongholds. After capturing Brandenburg, he seized several more forts and constructed German ones to secure control of the territory. His second major target was the Glomacze fort at Gana, near modern‑day Hof/Stauchitz. Henry's army overcame the defenses after expending at least 110,000 man‑hours filling in part of the protective ditch. Upon its capture, the garrison was killed on Henry’s orders, while the young boys and girls were enslaved by his professional soldiers (milites).

The subsequent establishment of a German fort at Meissen ensured lasting dominance along the middle Elbe and led to the creation of the Marca Geronis to administer the conquests. The siege of Gana, together with the many other sieges of Henry's 929 campaign, demonstrates the considerable resources the German kingdom could mobilize for extended warfare to conquer, control, and annex new territory.